spit her out. Quinn…now Quinn was a different story. If she wasn’t already very much taken by her hot-guy-firefighter, my older sister would chew Trey up and teach him a lesson. But not Addy.
Damn.
“How’s everything with Brady?” Addy changed the subject, and even though I’d just henpecked my relationship with Delaney and Liberty before my twin had arrived, I was willing to do it again to stop the unconcealed hurt on her face.
I didn’t give details that were not mine to give but I explained why the last twenty-four hours had been intense and why I hadn’t found the time to call her back.
Without the whole story and leaving out the parts about his sister which would elucidate the situation, I watched Adalynn’s eyes get squintier and squintier as I continued.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she mumbled.
“I do.”
“None of that sounds good,” she noted.
“Because it wasn’t good, it was horrible. You know I walked into this with my eyes open. I knew something was eating at him. I know what that is now and it’s worse than what I’d imagined. The worst, Addy, something none of us sitting here can imagine, not even Liberty, it’s that bad. What I can tell you is, down to his soul he’s in pain and he’s been avoiding dealing with it for twenty years. But now he’s ready to face it because he thinks I deserve the best and he knows he needs to sort his head and be healthy to give me that. It sucked hearing the man I love tell me to get out of his house, but you know what sucked worse? Looking at him, knowing he was in agony and not being able to reach him. Not being able to protect him from that. So, I’ll take that suckage if it means I get to stand by him as he works this out. I will not give up on him.”
Something flashed in Addy’s eyes, something I recognized not only because we were halves of the same whole, not only because I knew her, but because I saw that same exact look in the mirror when I thought about Brady.
Oh, shit.
Adalynn was totally in love with Trey.
“Addy,” I murmured.
“Don’t say it,” she whispered. “I know it’s not right.”
“What’s not right?”
“I’m his therapist.”
Yep. She was in love with Trey.
“So?”
“It’s not right. It’s not professional.”
Liberty snorted, obviously understanding the veiled conversation.
“Trust me, you cannot help who you fall in love with, Adalynn. You cannot control when, you cannot control where, and you cannot control how it happens.”
My cousin would know. She’d fallen in love with the man who’d rescued her from the pits of hell while in a war zone. She’d outranked him, making their relationship not only inappropriate but against military regulations. Lucky for her, he’d fallen just as hard. In an effort to protect her from losing her commission and everything she’d worked hard for, Drake had taken an undeserved dishonorable discharge from the Navy. And not a single day had gone by that Drake had regretted that decision.
“I don’t want to talk about this,” Addy grumbled.
“What’d the guys need to talk to you about?” I asked Liberty.
“Nope. We’re not talking about that bullshit, either. I’ve been gone for weeks. I need more gossip. Anyone knocked up? Thinking about getting knocked up? Secretly ran away and got married? What’s new in the Lenox-Clark-Walker-McCoy clan?”
“I know something juicy,” Delaney chirped.
“Spill,” I demanded.
“Okay, this is top-secret. But, I think Mercy’s pregnant.”
“Seriously?” Addy breathed.
We’d been waiting for my big brother and his wife Mercy to get down to baby-making.
“Well, I’m not sure. I overheard Jason telling her not to forget to take her vitamins and she was only allowed one cup of coffee. So it’s a reach and more of a hopeful guess.”
“Mom and Dad would be so happy,” I stated the understatement of the year.
“They would be,” Laney agreed. “And one more secret. This one’s super, top-secret, swear on the sisterhood you will not utter a word.” Once Laney had our solemn promises, she continued. “I’m three weeks late. I took a test this morning and it was positive.”
My heart swelled so big I thought it was going to burst. Being an “aunt” to my cousins’ kids and Laney and Carter’s Emma, was the coolest thing in the world. I adored my nieces and nephews.
“Ohmigod.” Addy clapped. “Carter’s gonna be so happy.”
“Yeah, he will,” she agreed.
It was then for the first time I started wondering how many kids Brady wanted. I